Weekend Box Office: ‘Tangled’ Takes It

There isn’t a whole lot to report this week, box office-wise. Not much was released to the multiplexes, and the art houses can only rack up so much dough (although, as you’ll read, ‘Black Swan’ did pretty impressive business). This week is the calm before the storm that is the-rest-of-2010, with its pile-up of Oscar contenders and big budget holiday fare.

The big winner this weekend was ‘Tangled‘, which actually jumped up from its second place slot on the list in its sophomore week. This is kind of impressive, even if its tally ($21.5 million) is down almost 56% from last weekend. The movie is solid, and seems to be connecting well with audiences. It’s not exactly a classic, but it’s definitely in the wheelhouse of the fairy tale films of yore. That seems to be enough for most.

Slipping out of the top slot in its third weekend was ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1‘. It made another $16.7 million, to bring its total to $243 million. (Yes, already.) As this weekend has proven, it’s able to be overtaken, by the same kind of broad family entertainment that it’s catering to. Expect the film to drop further as a glut of family-aimed entertainments are unleashed in the next few weeks – everything from Disney’s ‘Tron: Legacy’ to Fox’s ‘Gulliver’s Travels’ and third ‘Chronicles of Narnia’ film.

The only big release this weekend was the semi-wide (i.e. less than 2000 screens) ‘The Warrior’s Way‘, an atrocious mishmash of various stylistic and plot elements, none of which cohere long enough to tell a story that’s in the least bit interesting. Predictably, it bombed, coming in at #9 with just $3 million.

Now compare that to the $1.4 million earned by ‘Black Swan‘. You know how many theaters Darren Aronofsky’s ballet world thriller played in? 18. That’s pretty awesome. I’m sure that great word of mouth, critics’ Top 10 lists, and award nominations will keep the movie going as it rolls out across the country in the next few weeks. It’s probably too weird to actually grab any Academy Awards (except for Ms. Portman), but it should rack up some nominations for sure.

Next week we have ‘The Tourist’, ‘Narnia’, ‘The Fighter,’, and ‘The Tempest’. There’s also ‘The Company Men’, which at one point was touted as this year’s ‘Up in the Air’ but, in a recent decision by the Weinstein Company, has all but left the Awards circuit bubble. Instead of a steady limited release, it will enter into a brief, Academy-qualifying run in L.A. and New York (in one theater each!) and wait to roll out wider in late January. Not a good sign. Also, if I may be blunt, not a good movie either. The Weinsteins know that their Oscar hopes reside with ‘The King’s Speech’, and they’re not going to waste the time/effort/money on ‘The Company Men’. Good call boys.

The Top 10:

01 ‘Tangled’ (Disney) – $21.5 million

02 ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1’ (Warner Bros) – $16.7 million

03 ‘Burlesque’ (Sony) – $6.1 million

04 ‘Love and Other Drugs’ (Fox) – $6 million

05 ‘Unstoppable’ (Fox) – $5.9 million

06 ‘Due Date’ (Warner Bros) – $4 million

07 ‘Faster’ (CBS Films/Sony) – $3.8 million

08 ‘Megamind’ (Dream Works Animation/Paramount) – $5 million

09 ‘The Warrior’s Way’ (Rogue/Relativity) – $3 million

10 ‘The Next Three Days’ (Lionsgate) – $2.6 million

4 comments

  1. We went and saw Harry Potter at the Imax this past weekend. Whoa, that was an experience. I know its an upconvert, but MAN! Last one I saw at the Imax was Azkhaban, and I forgot how great the IMAX was. As for my roommate, it was her first time to see a feature film at the IMAX, and she is already wanting to see more movies there, even though its an hour drive. We are already making plans to see Tron there.

  2. Predictably Warriors Way didnt come anywhere near me and I couldnt go see it….also you are talking about a no name director, a highly no name cast besides Geoffrey Rush and Ninja’s vs. Cowboys, you know how much of a niche market that hits?

    No wonder it bombed, not because it was a mishmash of crazy plot points and nonsensical visuals, I would have thought that was obvious, under 2000 screens and really nothing else going for it, it was made for people like me and I couldnt even go support it…..gotta love that!

    • I’m amazed we had it near me. It was in the largest theater at our local cinema and I saw it with two friends and a total of nine other people.

      But hey, everyone laughed at the funny parts, and were in awe of the crazy/cryin/amazin’ fight scenes.

      It’s a shame it’s not coming near you, but on the plus side Cowboys vs Aliens should be much wider. I haven’t seen a preview yet, but I have high hopes.

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